City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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CONSHOHOCKEN — The 2024 Donofrio Classic continued Wednesday night with the second of four second-round evenings, with the 26-team field down to 12 following the two contests — two more teams locking down quarterfinal spots.

CLICK HERE to access our 2024 Donofrio hub. Read ahead for game recaps and a notebook featuring a couple players who took the court Wednesday night:

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Game One: Team Awesome 118, PA Hoops Academy 101

Despite a 40-point outing from PA Hoops Academy’s Jordan Dill (2026 | Germantown Friends), a talented Team Awesome squad had too many weapons. Florida Gulf Coast commit Tristen Guillouette (2024 | George School) powered his way to 28 points and La Salle commit Deuce Jones (2024 | College Achieve, N.J.) had 18 for Team Awesome, which will play Raw Sports in the quarterfinals on April 10 at 7 p.m. Jones put on a nice show with several rim-rattling dunks.

Team Awesome went up 61-47 at halftime and kept a comfortable lead throughout. Along with big nights from Guilouette and Jones, Manny Joe Samuel (2025 | Camden, N.J.) and Rylan Muniz (2024 | Executive Education) provided shotmaking, scoring 17 and 14 points, respectively, and combining for seven threes. Amir Nelson (2025 | Cristo Rey) followed Dill with 19 points (four 3s) for PA Hoops Academy.

Game Two: Positive Image Blue 81, L&L Running Rebels 66

A tight game turned into the Fazl Oshodi late in the second half as the Friends’ Central senior popped in 3-point shot after 3-point shot to help Positive Image Blue pull away into the quarterfinal round against NEPA on April 10 at 8:30 p.m. Oshodi finished with 33 points and made nine threes in the game.

Positive Image Blue  got a balanced effort behind Oshodi. Abdrahaman Coulibaly (2024 | West Philadelphia) had all nine of his points in the first half to help Positive Image to a 45-35 lead at the break. Jalen Chiles (2025 | Friends Select) also had nine with TJ Bryson (2025 | Penn Charter), Ahmeil McLaurin (2026 | Friends Select) and Muhsin Muhammad (2024 | Friends’ Central) all adding eight points.

Jaen Chatman (2025 | East Stroudsburg South) had 16 points (four 3s) and Jayden Thomas (2024 | Parkland) scored 14 points for the Running Rebels. Chatman recently announced he is reclassifying to 2026 and transferring to Blair Academy (N.J.).

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Germantown Friends sophomore Dill ready to make a name for himself

Jordan Dill got an early introduction to high-level talent in his high school career.

As an eighth grader at Germantown Friends two seasons ago, Dill stepped on the floor against Westtown and Dereck Lively — the then No. 1 player in the country.

He put together a 30-point outing, getting some nice words of encouragement from Lively after the game. It's a moment that's helped him continue to believe in himself over the last three seasons.

“I was in eighth grade starting and I wasn’t nervous," Dill said. "I don’t know what it was. … That gave me confidence.”

Over the past three seasons, he’s gone against other stars like Elmarko Jackson (Kansas) and Christian Bliss (Virginia), knowing they were headed to the level he wants to get to.

Dill has been racking up points — 1,692 of them — and a reputation locally in his first three high school seasons. The goal this summer will be to showcase himself first at the national level with Team Melo 16U on the EYBL circuit and then internationally with Puerto Rico’s U17 squad in the FIBA World Cup.

“Everybody knows me in the state,” Dill said. “I’m already No. 1 in the state, so it’s just getting my name out there nationally more.”

Dill, a 6-foot-1 lefty scoring guard, averaged 27.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.8 apg and 1.6 spg during his sophomore campaign at GFS this winter, earning a first team All-Friends Schools League nod. 

He played locally with BW Elite last summer. Now he will play with the Baltimore-based Team Melo, along with ANC sophomore forward Cameron Smith. Dill will join lifelong friend Kam Lawson (St. Frances, Md.) in the backcourt with others like Parker Robinson (OTE Elite) filling out the rest of the roster. He's spent the last three weekends staying in Baltimore for practices from Friday to Sunday.

Dill said he was a little too much about getting “mine” during his first two seasons of high school. One of his goals this summer is to become a better leader and team player, which makes him excited to play alongside a talented to group of teammates.

“(Coach) was telling me, ‘You’re going to get a lot of open shots because everybody is not going to triple and double team you no more,’ and I was like ‘Alright coach,’” Dill said. “When I actually got into practice and I was so open, it didn’t feel right. That’s really it, just playing with great guys that’s on my level or even better, playing with those guys I feel like my game is gonna elevate even more.”

The opportunity to play for Puerto Rico came as a bit of surprise for Dill, whose mother was born there before moving to New York around age 5. His grandmother, who he hasn't seen since he was born, still lives there.

Someone reached out about playing for the team and he went to a tryout in Brooklyn back in September. The U-17 World Cup takes place June 29 to July 7 in Istanbul, Turkey.

“I just can’t wait to play with the other guys, meet new faces, meet new people. It’s going to be super fun,” Dill said.

Dill’s first offer came from Temple heading into his ninth grade year. Other schools to offer include Drexel Towson, George Washington, SMU and Howard, with the last three programs the most recent to offer in September.

The high-scoring guard should pick up some more interest this summer. College coaches will be able to reach out to him directly for the first time in June.

Dill said he is potentially open to leaving the area to play at a prestigious prep program and he will see where the summer takes him. But right now, the Germantown native, plans to return next fall to Germantown Friends, where he is second on the school’s all-time scoring list behind former Villanova guard Jonathan Haynes.

“(GFS) shaped me into the player I am today,” Dill said. “Let me in the gym any time, believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself, striving me to be great every single day. The coaching staff, everybody from the first all the way down to the last man, I always want to give credit to GFS.”

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West Philadelphia’s Coulibaly going prep route after breakout year

West Philadelphia senior wing Abdrahaman Coulibaly grew up in a football family.

His older brothers Ben and Mohamed both played at Boys Latin before college careers on the gridiron at Bates College in Maine.

Coulibaly decided to carve out his own path.

“That’s just something I always wanted to be,” Coulibaly said. “Growing up, I just always tried to be different from my brothers. That’s what made me go toward basketball more than football.”

The younger Coulibaly brother was also blessed with height and length his older brothers didn’t get passed down. Ben, a 2013 Boys Latin grad, is 5-11 and Mohamed, a 2019 Boys Latin grad, is 6-foot.

Coulibaly sprouted up to 6-4 with athleticism, length, handle and some shooting ability. After getting his name out there as a junior and a strong offseason, he put all the pieces together during his senior campaign, averaging 18.9 ppg, 3.0 apg and 8.3 rpg, while shooting 58.4 percent from the floor and earning first team All-Philadelphia Public League honors.

“Confidence and just the right people trusting in me,” Coulibaly said. “They really gave me the keys at West, and I just took advantage of the opportunity.”

Coulibaly said there was interest from some local D-III and even D-II programs, but he will instead play with BW Elite this summer and do a postgrad year at Avon Old Farms School, an elite boarding school in Connecticut.

Ben showed Coulibaly’s highlights to an administrator at the school and they were impressed enough to offer him a spot on the team. He was award with enough need-based financial aid to cover his cost of attendance.

“That prep year, I just feel like I need that year to mature,” Coulibaly said. “They got me a full ride. That school is $76,000 a year and that’s more than college. When they said they were giving me the whole thing, I couldn’t say no to that.”

(Ed. Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Coulibaly was getting an athletic scholarship. This has been amended to reflect that the aid was need-based.)

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Quick Hits

— Fazl Oshodi (2024 | Friends’ Central) is pretty sure where he will play next year. Southwest Mississippi CC is a Division I junior college that has been following Oshodi since playing for East Coast Power on the Hoop Group Circuit last summer. They’ve been in touch for a while now.

While Oshodi has heard from D-I programs Delaware and Delaware State and D-II program Cal U (Pa.), West Chester, Chestnut Hill hasn't received an offer yet. He said it’s likely he’s suiting up for Southwest Mississippi by the time some national JUCO events take place in June.

“Unless anything comes up, any offers, I’ll choose that, but right now I’m going to that school,” Oshodi said.

Oshodi, a 6-3 combo guard, was a standout for three seasons at Friends’ Central. This past season was his and the program’s best during his time. He averaged 14.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.6 and 1.7 spg to earn first team All-Friends Schools League honors and helped the program reach the FSL title game for the first time in eight years.

“My first two years were kind of rough, we didn’t end up the way we wanted to,” Oshodi said. “But this past year, new coaching, new players came in, I feel like we got far, but we should have took it home.”

— Muhsin Muhammad (2024 | Friends’ Central) also had a terrific season for the Phoenix this year, averaging 17.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.1 apg and 1.3 spg in Wynnewood to earn first team All-Friends Schools League honors.

The 6-foot-4 guard is trying to figure out which route he wants to go next season. Muhammad has the opportunity to play Division III hoops, mentioning Marymount, Arcadia and Alvernia as the programs he is considering. He is also strongly considering trying to walk-on at a Division I program.

FCS coach Devin Coleman played at Temple and is trying to work that connection for Muhammad. He also said he’s talked to Fordham about walking on and they’ve mentioned interest in him as a preferred walk-on.

“I guess it’s exciting. I’m not really stressed out,” Muhammad said. “I know what I have. I’m just kind of getting all the options on the table and then making a decision.”